All I Want
by Leaves-in-the-Sand
Summary: After Gaara's father, Santa Claus,falls ill on the big night,it's up to Gaara to deliver all the presents.The problem is that a human girl sees him! Hinata finds herself sucked into the world of Nevernever and has to help the new St. Nick! Summary inside
1. Chapter 1

**Summary... Sorry about how long it is...**

Gaara is the immortal son of Santa Claus. He's lived his whole life in the North Pole, shrouded in an eternal veil called the Nevernever, where his Father's immortal village is located. Spending most of his time caring for the reindeer and helping in the workshop with the elves, Gaara feels like his Father lacks love for him, as he isn't privy to any of his work that his older siblings; Temari and Kankurou, are. Then, on the day before Christmas, his father become ills and requests for him to deliver all the presents around the world! With the help of his meddling siblings, the Sandman Shukaku and an elf organization called Akatsuki, can Gaara deliver all the presents in time, without being seen?

Hinata is a regular girl living with her father and baby sister. All she wants is a job at a little book shop and to finish high school. During Christmas break though, HInata awakes with a loud thump on the roof. Sneaking down the stairs, Hinata spots someone she shouldn't have seen: Gaara! Mistaking him for Santa Claus and without realizing it, she has been the first mortal the red head has ever met and, to ensure she remembers him, he takes her first kiss. On Christmas morning, Hinata still remembers everything from the previous night but the elfin council isn't pleased and wish for the expulsion of Gaara from the Nevernever and for the modification of Hinata's memories! Can Hinata, with the help of the tooth fairy Sakura, cupid Rock Lee and a few others convince them to change their minds and save the Nevernever from corruption?

**Anyways...Hey, Leafy-chan here, bringing you a Christmas story. Don't worry for all of my faithful readers who have been anticipating my sequel to 'Last Friday Night' 'cause it's on its way! I would like to spend some time on it and make sure it's good and, as I'm working on it, I realize it's gonna be _long._That was definitely not planned. Anyways, I'm bringing you a Christmas story for many reasons, three of them are; one: I love Naruto Christmas stories; two: I'm not gonna be here for the holidays since I'm going to Mexico! and three; it's a bit of a tribute to Stormy (Storm Alert; check out her Bleach fics) since she's written me so many and I wanted to write her a happy holiday one! Well, all you readers (and you too Stormy) I hope you enjoy! Onwards! **

Chapter One: Cold is the Man

_Cold is the man who can't love_

_fa la la la la, fa la la la_

'Have you fed the reindeer yet?' one of the elves asked him, walking by with a pile of presents in his tiny arms. Gaara froze and eyed him warily, the look nearly causing the guy to drop the boxes, 'I-I!' he started to sputter, fear creeping into his eyes but the red head shook his head. A deep sigh left his lips before he went down to the front door, tossing on his coat before going outside.

It was snowing. It was always snowing so the boy wasn't surprised. He had never seen any other weather in the North Pole. In fact, he had never seen anything but snow. He heard that in the human world there was something called seasons so it wasn't always winter. That was so odd. Gaara couldn't imagine anything other than snow for he had lived his whole life in eternal winter.

Trudging over to the shed, he wrenched open the door and filled a few buckets of oats and other feed before leaving, hitting the door closed with his hip before going over to the barn where the reindeer were kept. He managed to open the door with with his elbow, which had taken him years to practice, before shutting the door with the toe of his boot behind him. Gaara whistled for the reindeer before going over to the trough and dumping the feed in it. One of the reindeer gave him a withering look before swinging his large head, nearly smacking Gaara with a large antler. 'Hey, watch it Blitzen. I feed and clean you.' Blitzen snorted before burying his snout into the feed. Gaara smirked, proud that he finally won a fight with that guy. He was a bit of a 'big man on campus' that one.

It might have been sad, but the fact was that Gaara spent most of his time with the reindeer. Taking care of them was the lowest job in the hierarchy, but the red head didn't quite understand that. These were the reindeer that flew a giant red sled around the world. How was taking care of them so bad? Then again, Gaara was mostly called the stableboy because he was the one who cleaned up all the stalls, fed them, washed them and so on. It wasn't a bad job, in fact, he rather liked it because it meant he didn't have to hang around the factory with all the annoying, pestering elves. He'd think that because he was the son of Santa Claus that they would treat him better.

His face fell and his lips morphed into a deep frown and Comet approached him and tried to nuzzle him, only resulting in smacking an antler into his gut. Gaara gave a grunt before stroking the fluffy, fleecy head, 'At least it wasn't the family jewels this time.' he grumbled, rubbing his stomach. No matter what, Comet always ended up hitting him. He had bruises from the big guy trying to get affection from him and, last time he fed him, he left limping. Gaara winced at the thought. 'I've gotta go guys. Stuff to do, people to see.' he said over the sounds of munching reindeer. Then, in perfect synch, they all lifted their heads and looked at him will accusing eyes. He sighed, 'Yea. That was a lie. Sorry.' he plopped down onto his bottom, crossing his legs. Comet nearly fell down with him but settled with pushing his head onto Gaara's shoulder. He breathed out and watched his foggy breath dance in front of him, before continuing to pet the reindeer.

Gaara spent a while in the shed. He loved the reindeer and they treated him better than almost everyone at the factory ever had. It was depressing but true. Elves bossed him around and he was just a stableboy who helped out around the workshop where he could. It was his siblings, Temari and Kankurou who were the big bosses on campus. They were the right hand men... people (since Temari was female) of their father and everyone who needed to speak to Santa had to go through them. Even Gaara had to, despite Temari telling him different. If he asked someone where his father was, they would sneer and tell them to find the boss-lady: Temari. Even as a child Gaara had been considered an outsider and worked with the elves who degraded him as much as they would. He loathed the way they looked at him. It was either a look of disgust or a look of fear. He saw the way they looked at his siblings, with respect and devotion. That was all Gaara wanted. He just wanted people to respect him like they did the rest of his family.

Saying his goodbyes to his friends in the stable, Gaara jogged back into the workshop, shaking the snowflakes out of his hair and undoing his coat and hanging it on one of the hooks. 'Hey, Gaara!' it was Temari, walking down the hallway in her tapping heels with her elf assistant Matsuri who did everything for her. 'Where have you been? You should be in the shop right now doing a maintenance check on everything. Tomorrow is the night!'

Walking up to her and speaking in his low, raspy voice, he answered, 'Someone told me I had to feed the team.' the team was another name for the reindeer, hints the term, reindeer team. He shrugged, 'I'll get on it now, I suppose.'

Temari gave a deep sigh, 'Who told you to feed the guys?' she placed a hand on her hip and cocked an eyebrow.

He looked reluctant to answer but seeing the glint in her eyes he knew he wouldn't be able to get away without telling her, 'Mukade.' he winced a bit and bowed his head, glancing up at his sister through his eyelashes.

Temari's head whipped around and she peered down like a hawk at the clipboard in Matsuri's hands. Scoffing Temari said, her voice becoming authoritative and a bit snooty, 'Yea, he told you that 'cause it was his turn to feed them. When I see him, I'll-,'

'No.' he cut her off, 'It's fine,' he shrugged, 'I like visiting them. They're my friends and a I don't trust a guy like Mukade to take care of my friends.' Temari sighed and gave him a sympathetic look while Matsuri's eyes swelled with tears of admiration. He disregarded her. 'I'll go and do the check,' he brushed past his sister and walked down the hall, peering into the large glass windows to the factory that sat in the center of the whole building. He pushed open the door, a few elves bustling by him, holding more beautifully wrapped boxes, which were all stacked in haphazardness piles in their arms. Gaara held the door open and sucked in his gut, letting pass before entering. It always got chaotic the closer they got to Christmas and today was no exception. Like Temari had said, tomorrow was the night.

Walking around cautiously, as to not disturb anyone, Gaara made sure there was no problems with any of the machines that were making the toys. As he walked by, the conveyer belt that was doing the wrapping got jammed, the paper flying upwards, ripping. There were squawks and some futile attempts to fix it but Gaara leaned over and flipped a red switch before ripping the ruined paper off and taking out and relaying the roll of wrapping into the slot. He flipped the switch again and paper rolled out onto the conveyer belt without a hitch. Smiling to himself he moved away from the machine. The elves gave sighs of relief before turning to see who fixed the problem. Their happy faces all fell when they saw him and their faces morphed into snarls and sneers and a few whimpered in fear. Gaara's pleasant mood was gone in a flash and he turned elegantly, stalking away from the group of wrapping elves, his nostrils flaring.

'Don't worry about them Gaara. They're just jealous.' came a smooth voice and Gaara looked up from his stomping feet. It was the department head and doll maker, Sasori. He looked very much like Gaara, but not so much that people would actually stop to stare at him like they did with the younger boy. His hair was also red, though not as vibrant and he had wide, auburn brown eyes. He looked pretty and his own face resembled those of the dolls he devoted his life to making. 'Good job on fixing it though,' his lips twitched into a small smile and he patted his shoulder with his small, feminine hands that were calloused from work.

Gaara gave a soft, unwonted smile before asking, 'Everything's okay over here?' Sasori was one of the few people who showed Gaara that respect he longed for and, because of that, made him one of his favorites. Sasori was much older than him and was a member of Akatsuki, an elf organization his father had created to help keep order in the North Pole. They all also happened to work in the factory, making presents for the children.

Sasori nodded, 'It's beautiful over here, do not fret, Gaara.' Not only was Sasori kind, he was also mellow and an artist. He believed in something called eternal beauty and Gaara knew he liked reading and writing poetry and making puppets in his spare time. The only time Sasori got angry was when someone didn't listen to him, made him wait for an extended period of time or broke one of his creations and Gaara had managed to live his life with doing any of those to him, making them very good buddies. 'Perhaps you should check on Deidara though. I'm afraid of what is happening over there.' before Gaara could reply there were some shoutings among the elves who worked in Sasori's department and the older red head whirled around to them, 'What, in the name of Christmas, is going on here!' and he said some other inappropriate things and Gaara quickly snuck away, moving over to the toy department which was much more out of control compared to the doll department.

Deidara was the head of the toy department and worked with Tobi who was better known as the Toy King. He was known as this because he was the one who invented new toys and gave the ideas to mortals to sell into products. Deidara was the head of the department mostly because he was a percent more mature than Tobi, who was very childlike in everything he did. The problem with them working together though was that they didn't get along, despite Tobi's hero worship for the blonde man. Deidara hated the masked man and often brow-beat him and threatened him. And something usually blew up during those arguments.

Wandering over to the toy department, Gaara was in luck to see is was rather peaceful -but more out of control than Sasori's department-, for Tobi was laying on one of the conveyer belts while Deidara was directing traffic for a bunch of elves who had toy boxes in their arms and couldn't see over the top. 'Okay, now forward, un.' some shuffling, 'to the left, un.' some squeals, 'No! the other left!' some grunts and a box tumbled to the floor. Before Deidara could explode, Gaara quickly leapt forward and placed the box back on top of the elf's arms.

Deidara had slanted blue eyes and very long blonde hair that he wore drawn into a half ponytail. Gaara knew that the bang hanging over his left eye concealed a scope he used to watch everything that happened with the Pole, from the factory to the village. When he saw Gaara save the package, he seemed to have calmed down, 'Huh, thanks Gaara. Checking on everyone, un?'

Nodding, Gaara replied, 'Yes. Any problems here you need help with?' Both he and Deidara looked around, watching the elves work. There was a squeal and Tobi stood up and started to run to the beginning of the conveyer belt before laying back down and moving through it once again.

'Only if you can manage to scare Tobi away from the belt, un.' Gaara's twitched upwards and he shook his head negatively. Deidara gave a sigh, 'Well, then we're fine here, un.' he gave Gaara a wink before going off and ordering some of elves and tweaking some of the toys.

The young red head continued through the departments, checking the order of each one. He stopped at the Naughty Department who was run by Hidan, a muscular man with slicked back silver hair and distinctive purple eyes. Each gift was more cynical and maniacal than the last and Gaara was afraid to tell Hidan that they couldn't give those out to the children so continued on to the next unit.

The next branch was music, which a man named Pain was in charge of. He was a tall, lean man with pale, purple eyes that featured dark rings around his pupil. His hair was fluffy and orange on the top of his head and his face had six piercings on the sides of his nose, two below his bottom lip, a few on the edges of his ears and bars going through the cartilage. He was a very intimidating man and his voice was perhaps even deeper than Gaara's. Despite being terrify, he was very respectful and polite and always treated Gaara kindly. Gaara also knew that he could handle his department better than the rest of the heads so wasn't worried and waved to him as he went through the unit. He waved back, giving a respectful nod.

The next branch was the clothing department. It was headed by two people: Konan who was in charge of women's and children clothing and Itachi Uchiha, who did men's. Konan had blue hair, amber eyes, ultramarine eye shadow and a labret piercing. Itachi had dark eyes, black hair that hung near his cheeks to frame his face and kept the rest of it in a ponytail. He also had pronounced tear troughs under his eyes.

Gaara was definitely not worried about them, for they were both very capable and mature and the elves they had working for them were all very patience and rather scared of facing their wrath so they did everything in their power to not mess up. He waved at them and moved on to the next unit. When a sweet, gooey smell hit his nose, Gaara knew it was, by far, the best department. It was the kitchen, where candy and cookies and a whole bunch of yummy stuff was made and Gaara had dubbed it the best as a child and would pretend to do maintenance checks almost every bloody day. And every bloody day he got a fresh treat. Gaara could already feel himself salivating for he knew the smell very well.

Cookies.

Pushing open the door, there were hundreds of tables, all covered with beautifully decorated treats from cakes to candies, to tarts to puddings and so on. All the scents went together to create an absolutely amazing smell of melted chocolate, sugar and icing sugar and Gaara's stomach roared when his eyes laid sight on the gooey chocolate chip cookies.

Heading past the tables, Gaara moved to the main kitchen were the head chef was. It wasn't that hard to find him for he was part plant. Zetsu was the head for the department and very distinguished for the large venus fly trap like extensions that enveloped his head and upper body, giving him an appearance of a plant. When his plant was open, Zetsu had short green hair, yellow eyes and his body split into two different colored halves: black and white.

At the moment, Zetsu was pulling out a batch of cookies from the oven, wearing Santa oven mitts and a red apron that had prancing reindeer on it. He always wore it but Gaara had to hid a smile for he looked so funny in it.

Swallowing a chuckle, Gaara approached him, 'Are there any problems in here you need help with...' he trailed off at the end for Zetsu had stood up and faced him, displaying the pan with fresh cookies in it. The red head licked his lips indiscreetly.

'No. There are no problems here, Gaara.' He raised an eyebrow on his white side, 'I suppose though,' Gaara's head shot up, 'that for your hard work, you can have a cookie.' A childish grin went across the teenager's face and he thanked the plant man ten million times as he took a fresh cookie and as he left. Zetsu just looked amused before taking the batch of cookies over to a table of elves.

There were only two more departments left; one of them was the Mechanics, for they took all the broken toys and fixed them and the Supplies Unit, where there were checklists and order forms of everything they needed and how much they had left, for there was no way they would be able to recover from a loss so close to Christmas.

Moving from the kitchen, the next area was the Mechanics. Kisame was on the far side of the room, scolding an elf for his incompetence. Loitering by the door until he was done, the red head made a mad dash to the tall man. Kisame had a distinctive shark like appearance, complete with blue skin, small, round white eyes and gill like facial markings under his eyes.

On his way to the shark man, Gaara ducked under a low flying airplane toy, did zig-zags around a toy dog who was barking and barring his teeth at him, jumped over a car who was riding on his back tires and had to fend off a dinosaur who had leapt off the table at him. Kisame looked painfully amused, watching him through the whole thing until he landed in front of him, panting. 'Do you...' he stopped to catch his breath for a moment before continuing, 'need any help?' he asked, still a bit breathless.

A smirk danced onto Kisame's lips before he formed the word carefully, 'No.'

'Oh fu-!' Gaara cussed a long moment, patting his chest for air before pivoting on his foot a few times, 'Okay then...' he looked resigned, his eyes downcast.

Kisame chucked and slapped his back, nearly toppling him over, 'Hey, why don't you go and check on Kakuzu to see if he needs any help. We all know how hard his job is.' he rolled his eyes. Kakuzu was known mostly for his complaining and sulking for he believed he had the hardest job and he wasn't afraid to tell anyone about it. If one of the other department heads was complaining about their jobs, Kakuzu would show up and talk about how hard his job was, making the other person feel bad. Or if you were Deidara or Hidan, you just got mouthy with him, which made him go back up and sulk in his department area for hours and would even starve himself.

Kakuzu's office was on the floor above Kisame's department and on the other side. Gaara gapped at the length he would have to run to get there, 'Do you think it's fine up there-,'

'Get going kid.' he slapped his back again, this time sending him to the ground with a grunt. Some of the elves snickered at him but seeing the glare from Kisame, went quickly back to work again.

Pushing himself back to his feet, Gaara ran in place for a moment, working up the courage before he went running again, the dinosaur from earlier charging at him once more and following him through the whole room. Hitting back robots, possessed dogs, a red-eyed penguin, a life sized ostrich and an army of fighter jets that were able to shoot Nerf bullets at him, Gaara finally made it to the winding staircase, jumping over the railing onto the fifth step, skipping the others. The dinosaur gave a forlorn cry before wandering back into the arms of the elf that was fixing him. Whipping at his brow, Gaara waved at Kisame who was howling with laughter before climbing to the top of the stair case and swinging open the door.

Kakuzu's department was much more organized than the other chaotic rooms in the factory, with each elf sitting in their own desk and working on something. Some were even speaking on telephones.

Like Kisame, it wasn't hard to spot Kakuzu. He was a dark skinned, muscular man that towered over almost everyone except the shark man, Kisame. He had green eyes that had no pupils and red sclera. Gaara knew what he looked like, but for the most part he wore a mask and a white hood, obscuring most of his features from being seen. He looked up from his desk when Gaara entered, 'Hmm. Doing a check?' he sounded ever so slightly amused. When the red head nodded, he murmured, 'Check each desk and see if they're all doing their jobs.' before he turned back down to his papers, penning something down as he read another page.

Nodding, Gaara moved and watched each elf work like an observant assistant. Some of the elves ignored him while others turned and glared up at him but he ignored them and made sure each of them were working and doing what they were suppose to. When he got to the end of the room and moved back up, doing another check (since the philosophy in the North Pole was 'checking it twice') he ended up back at the head's desk. 'It's all good, Kakuzu.' he whispered as to not disturb anyone.

The man looked up, peered into his eyes before letting his gaze float about the room. He said, 'Very good. You may leave.' Gaara leaned over and peered down through the window down at Kisame's hectic department.

'Uh... Can I use the elevator?' he asked, wincing despite himself as a group of rampant robots starts to shoot Nerfs at all the elves and Kisame ended up grabbing his own Nerf gun and starting a mini war with the robots. Kakuzu saw this and nodded before standing up and waving at Gaara to follow him. They went across the room to a ovular elevator and Kakuzu opened it for him. 'Thank you.' the man nodded and closed the door on him, sending him to the ground floor.

When the door opened, Gaara quickly moved out at the shut quickly and shot back up. They liked things done fast around the factory. 'Ah! Gaara! Done the check?' it was Temari, coming up from a stairway and, strongly alone as Matsuri was absent from her side. He nodded mutely, not particularly caring, 'Good! Can't wait for tomorrow!' she laughed and did a happy dance, grabbing him and intertwining their arms, 'What about you? Excited?'

He smiled slightly, 'Yes. Comet will be pleased. I get to hook them up to sled again.' every year as his job as the stableboy, Gaara had to hook the team up to his father's sleigh before the big flight. Again, it wasn't a particularly important job despite the fact if you hooked them up wrong, the whole run would be ruined on the most important night of the year.

Temari gave a deep, agitated sigh, 'Gaara-,' she started but he quickly shook his head and unhooked his arm from hers.

'It's my job Temari and I love it. Don't say anything about it. You know as well as anyone that I'm not his son. Not really.' he was never treated like it. He was a stableboy, someone who was just around to do extra jobs, no matter what anyone said.

'You are his son, Gaara.' she whispered, staring at his mocking smile. He shook his head once more before sulking off, his mood fowling again. He didn't like to be reminded of the lack of love his father gave him, especially by his own sister. No matter what Temari said, they both knew he wasn't treated fairly.

'Temari!' Gaara could hear his brother, 'Temari-,' he wasn't listening to what they were talking about and started to pick up his pace but stopped when they started to shout at him, specifically Kankurou, 'Gaara! Come here! Gaara, man!' he called and Temari joined him.

Growling to himself, Gaara turned and walked back to them. Kankurou looked frazzled, his eyes wide, 'What?' he snapped as his brother jumped from foot to foot, with shifting eyes. His brother looked so much like their father it was almost painful to look at him. It wasn't like Gaara saw his Father often though.

'It's Dad! He- He needs to see all of us!' Temari's eyes widened and she nodded eagerly.

Scoffing, Gaara replied, 'He's never asked to see me before, why now? Can't you guys just go?' he crossed his arms like the rebellious teen he was and pursed his lips, displeased.

Kankurou rolled his eyes and said, harshly, 'If he could tell just us, do you think he would invite you?' Gaara froze and hugged himself tightly, keeping his arms crossed. He felt his eyes sting but he ignored the caustic feeling and instead followed Kankurou, who had turned briskly and began walking to their father's room. Temari was giving Gaara a large, sympathetic look but she would alternate it with a look of disapproval to Kankurou.

Their father's room was linked to his office but you could only access it with a key, which he had given to Kankurou and Temari and to Kakuzu. But, not his own, youngest son. Not like the red head expected it but it still hurt he gave a room to his two eldest children and to the head of the supplies and money department. Not his own son. Gaara shivered as he waited for his brother to unlock the door. When he did, Temari went in first before Gaara and finally Kankurou, who closed the door behind him.

Gaara had only been in his father's room a few times in his life so he absorbed the surroundings as soon as he entered. The walls were bright red and the wood furniture all had beautiful, elegant carvings of reindeer on them. It was very clean, with nothing on the floor and there was a table with four chairs around it. On the table was a stack of papers and on the bedside tables, dresser and the mantle over the fireplace were family photos. To his own surprise, Gaara realized there were even photos of him, from the time when he was a happy, photogenic child to when he was a brooding teenager who hated the camera. The last photo had been taken of him had been about a year ago and he was in the shed with the reindeer team, Comet throwing his thick head at his hip. A tiny smile twitched on his lips. It was a good photo.

Then, Gaara moved his eyes to the bed, where they stopped. His father was laying on the bed, looking pale and drawn, his breathing harsh and cheeks hollow. His shoulders were trembling and Temari instantly acted, pulling the blankets up around his neck, 'Father!' she gasped, touching some of his greying brown hair.

A small smile moved onto his lips and he huffed out, 'Temari. Good. Is Gaara here?' his eyes moved blindly around the room and the red head winced. That was bad.

Moving up to the bed, the youngest whispered, 'I'm right here, Father.' he brought his hand out to reach out and touch the bed but swiftly pulled it back, as if afraid to do so. Temari sighed and touched his elbow softly. 'Are...' his hairless brows drew together, 'Are you ill, Father?'

The old man nodded, barely moving his head, 'Yes, I'm afraid so.' he released a long breathe. 'I won't be making the trip tomorrow night.'

"What!' Temari screeched, standing up straighter, 'What do you mean! What about all the children! You can't just not go!' Kankurou nodded, rounding up on the other side, 'Dad!' Temari pleaded, 'Please! You just have to get better by tomorrow!' she reassured.

'Yea, it'll be fine.' Kankurou added, 'You'll be up and at 'em by tomorrow and you'll do the run.'

'No.' their father rasped, 'I won't be doing the run.' he closed his eyes and breathed slowly and as steady as he could, 'I won't be delivering the presents.' he repeated, 'Gaara will.'

It suddenly felt very cold in the room and Gaara couldn't move. Him? Doing the run? Impossible. 'Don't play with me old man.' he growled, 'what are you actually planning?'

His father shook his head, 'No Gaara. I'm not playing.' he gave a wry smile, 'You'll be doing the run tomorrow night.' he whispered.

Sneering, the boy replied, 'That's bullshit. I can't do the run. You're Santa Claus, not me. I'm not even your son. I can't go around the entire world in one night!' his hands curled into fists as his arms hung at his sides.

His father's eyes suddenly focused in on him for the first time, 'You are my son, Gaara. Despite what you and many others believe, you are.' he didn't turn from him, 'Temari, bring me my belt.' Temari leapt up and went to his dresser, pulling his black leather belt off of the top of it. It had a large, rectangle buckle on it with intricate Christmas designs carved into it. It was gorgeous and had been made for him by the elf counsel centuries ago when he first became the big man in red. His hands were shaking as he took the belt and he waved Gaara forward. The red head approached him cautiously, wondering if he was going to whip him with it or something. Instead, his father wrapped it around his waist and pulled it tight and linked the small gold tip into one of the holes before letting it go and sit on his hips.

He felt winded as he stared at the the belt that was wrapped on on him. 'What have you done?' he asked his ailing father, who stared up at him with dull black eyes.

'You will be riding out tomorrow night.' his father repeated slowly, as if talking to a child. Gaara gapped at him. 'Be ready.'

_A cheerful holiday next year,_

_Fa la la la la, fa la la la la_

_To the troubled, cold are the bills,_

_Fa la la la la, fa la la la la_

_Which come during the holidays_

_..._

How was one suppose to prepare to deliver presents all around the world? The answer was simple; there is no way. The next day, Gaara found out on his own terms that Temari had announced the fact the present delivering had been passed onto him, the one guy nobody liked. Now, whenever he walked around the factory they would whisper about him in voices lathered in disgust and doubt and would glower at him with complete loathing, as if they blamed him for the illness his Father had accumulated. Gaara hated it so much he couldn't spend much time in the factory anymore and instead spent his time out in the village. They too, heard the news but didn't hate him even more for it. In fact, they congratulated him. It was much nicer and people stared giving him free food and hot chocolate. That was the best.

'Hello Gaara!' an older woman greeted, lifting her purse off of a bench she had been sitting on, 'How are you?' the snow crunched under their feet was they shuffled through it.

'Fine.' he whispered smiling ever so slightly.

She beamed at him, 'Good to hear!' they exchanged a few more pleasantries before going their separate ways. When she was out of ear shot, Gaara grunted to himself. Tonight was the night he would fly around the world to deliver all the presents they spent the last year making to every child in the world. There was no pressure. Bitting his tongue, Gaara fell into the bench and watched everyone go about their day in the village. How he wished to be a regular villager like one of them. He wouldn't have to worry about anything other than what he was going to buy for supper that night. It would be nice to relax and take a break from everything. He sighed and closed his eyes, listening to the bustle of every day life in the village.

'Hey Gaara.' a hand rested on his shoulder and the red head jumped. It was Sasori. 'What are you doing out here? Tonight's the big night.' he smiled, 'It's your big night.' he sat down on the bench beside him, his brows furrowing in concern. 'What's wrong? And don't say nothing.' he fixed his scarf, 'I'm an artist, I know better.' he tapped his temple with his index finger.

Wincing, Gaara muttered, 'It's just... I don't think I can do it.'

Before he could elaborate, Sasori cut in, 'Don't listen to the elves Gaara. They're just jealous that you're the son of Santa freaking Claus.' he smirked, 'and I know you probably don't believe it right now but tonight, when you're cracking the whip and the sleigh's lifting to the sky,' he used his hand as a sleigh and made it raise from his lap and sore upwards and both of them watching it, Gaara rather spellbound, 'you'll know. You'll feel, no matter how disturbing this sounds, your father's blood running through your veins.'

'That is rather disturbing.'

'Just go with it.'

'Okay.'

Sasori smiled and patted his back, his other hand falling back onto his lap, 'Now, I need you to stop moping. It's freaking Christmas, man.' he cocked his head smugly, 'Now lets go to Itachi and get him to set you up with your own suit for the big night.' he laughed, a beautiful sound that echoed through the whole lane in the village.

'I don't-,' Gaara started but Sasori ignored him and yanked him up from the bench of self pity and dragged him back to the factory, the last place the young red head wanted to be.

_Cold is the fire on Mount Snowdon,_

_Fa la la la la, fa la la la_

The measuring tape was flying all around him and Gaara gave up trying to follow it. Sasori just rolled his eyes and lounged on the chair, 'Geez, Itachi. You'd think you'd have his measurements already!'

Itachi froze and gave the other red head a dirty look, 'I need to make sure this outfit is perfect.' he pronounced the last word carefully, 'There can't be any mistakes, no tightness in the arms, no flood pants, no chaffing, no rashes, no nothing!' Gaara's face burned and he stared hard at his feet. Sasori chortled and let Itachi continue his work.

When the measurements were done, he rushed over to his desk and began writing numbers out, before he started to sketch the design. He called Konan over and they consulted each other on the outfit for what felt like forever. Gaara went and sunk into a chair beside the other red head, 'Don't worry Gaara.' the cocoa eyed man reassured him, 'When they finish your uniform for the night, it'll be time for you to ride out.'

'I'm guessing I can't harness the team in?' he whispered, looking up at the older man from his eyelashes.

Sasori shook his head, 'Don't worry about it though.' he winked at him, 'Pain is.'

Gaara's face faltered, 'Pain!'

He nodded, 'Yup. Just because he isn't the stableboy.' he tweaked the teenager's cheek, 'doesn't mean he can't handle it. After all, you weren't always around. Who did you think set the team up before you?' Gaara's mouth opened and closed a few times before he settled with shaking his head vigorously. Sasori snickered, 'Yea, that's what I thought. Again, though, don't stress. Everything is gonna be great. Right, Itachi?'

'Damn straight!'

_Cold are the people who don't care_

_Ffa la, Ffa la, fa la la_

**I hope you all enjoyed that! I'm gonna try and be more consistent with my updating for this one since I really like the idea I got for it. I love reviews, faves and constructive criticism. *hint hint, wink wink* Oh, and if any of you can send in a better name than 'All I Want', I'll be happy to change it since the title at the moment isn't my fave. Bye until next time! **


	2. Chapter 2

**Yes! Another chapter! You know, this may look real good but watch me crap out as this goes on. ;P By the way, I didn't do any research on which places Santa actually visits first and such so I'm just going from one part of the world to the other, research done on a world map... Right to left. If it's too painful for you to read, send me a review or PM and I'll be happy to change it. Thanks! **

**Onwards, onwards! **

Chapter Two: A Not so Silent Night

_Silent Night, Holy Night_

_All is calm and all is bright_

'But Santa Claus doesn't exist!' there was a lot of conviction in that little five word sentence for an eleven year old girl and Hinata Hyuuga found herself almost falling over. Her darling, baby sister didn't believe in Santa anymore! What were they teaching at schools now a days? They should be ashamed with themselves, killing the hopes and dreams of children at such a young age. Couldn't they at least wait until they were older like they did with Hinata, who had felt like her whole life had been lie afterwards?

Pretending to think hard, furrowing her brows and stoking her index finger along the gentle curve of her smooth chin, Hinata mused, 'You don't think Santa Claus exists, huh?' Hanabi nodded, her eyes hardening with determination. 'Let's see what you think when you wake up tomorrow morning and don't have any presents under the tree.' her lips turned upwards into a clever smile, proud of herself for a such a astute lie.

Hanabi didn't look scared or even moved by what she said, but Hinata, being the ever so observant big sister she was, noticed the flicker of fear and hesitation in her gaze, 'What do you mean, no presents?' her teeth came out to slid across her bottom lip nervously. When she realized what she was doing she quickly forced herself to stop. She refused to show her weakness to her older sister. It was every kids' nightmare to wake up on Christmas and have no presents waiting for them.

Hinata smiled coquettishly, 'Didn't you know? Little boys and girls who don't believe in Santa don't get any presents delivered to them, regardless if they've been good or bad.' Hanabi's posture faltered but she quickly corrected herself, praying that her big sister hadn't noticed the crack in her defenses. Unfortunately for her though, she had but Hinata mustered up her best poker face to pretend she hadn't.

Having bought the poker face, Hanabi pretended to be unfazed by this deception and said, with not as much conviction as the first time, 'Santa Claus does not exist!' before twirling on her heel with as much attitude an eleven year old could rally before taking long, exaggerated steps of the staircase to her room and slamming the door behind her as to make a point. Rolling her eyes, Hinata turned off the lamp in the living room before quickly making her way up the stairs to her own bedroom. Pausing by her sister's door, she listened for a moment to the ruffling of bed sheets and the quiet muttering of, 'I do believe in Santa Claus. I do believe in Santa Claus. Santa is real. Santa is real.' slapping her hands over her mouth to muffle the enlivened giggles that were spilling out, Hinata crept away from the door like the Grinch, with inflated leg movements.

She left the door open a crack and strung her own lamp light on so she could to read her novel. It was just getting to the exciting part and she very much needed to read it in order to ensure a good night's rest. If not, Hinata would have just ended up rolling around in her covers restlessly, unable to think of anything other than the next chapter to her book.

Deciding to just read a couple of chapters, Hinata began. The background noise of the house was absolutely quiet, only the gentle humming of the music coming from Hanabi's radio filled the house. Hinata's lavender gaze moved from the words of the pages to the thickness of the pages on each side. Wow, she must be a fast reader to able to get through that. How many chapters did she read? Placing her bookmark into the spot she stopped at, the teenager flipped around to find she had from chapter VII to chapter XIII in about... Her eyes flitted to her clock radio. Holy crap! She read that in four and a half hours. Quickly pushing her book away from her, Hinata reached out to turn out of her light when there was a loud thump on the roof above her. Snow fell from it and dropped in front of her window. Hinata gapped at it. More snow fell. Hinata's mouth fell open even more.

There was another thump, only from her living room and a soft, grunt sounding noise she wasn't sure if was actually real or not. Flipping her covers off her body, Hinata pulled her door away and crept to the hallway to peer down into the living room. There was an actual man in red bending down over the table of cookies and milk.

'Santa?'

_Sleep in heavenly peace_

'Are you sure this is appropriate?' Gaara asked for what felt like the dozenths time that night as he, Sasori and Itachi made their way out to the track where Pain was setting up the team of reindeer for the flight and Deidara and Hidan were organizing the gifts in the back. Gaara's costume consisted of a red leather trench coat that ended at his knees and was buttoned up, with white fuzz around the neck and the hood. He had his Father's belt hung on his waist overtop of it. One his hands were black leather gloves and his pants were a tight, black concoction of cotton and polyester that felt like silk. His boots ended mid calf with fur on the inside and black leather on the outside. It looked nothing like his father's outfit.

'Again, Gaara.' came Itachi's reply, 'You aren't your father so you need an original costume that suits you. This is what we came up with.' he smiled thinly. Gaara gave a grunt and practiced moving his hands in the gloves, which squealed as he moved them. 'Those just need to be broken in.' Itachi added.

Sasori seemed to be more excited than Gaara, moving quickly, nearly hopping from foot to foot and swinging the door open from the back of the factory. The track was right in front of them. Snow crunching underfoot, Gaara threw up his hood and followed the two older elves out to the track, anticipation swelling up in his stomach and he felt like he just drank a lot of hot cocoa.

'Hey, Gaara.' the red head jumped and turned to who said that to him. There was a swirl of sand to his left and Gaara watched as it formed a half man, half tanuki -or a raccoon dog- creature. 'Look'en sharp.' he winked.

'Shukaku!'Gaara blurted, surprised to see the demon tanuki present at the North Pole. He hated the cold and tried his best to avoid the snow. 'W-What are you doing here?' Shukaku was tall and built thickly but with a slim face and black markings on his sandy brown skin. His eyes were gold with a star black pupil and a black sclera. On his back was a large gourd and from his waist was another gourd that was smaller and held an alcoholic drink of some kind.

'I wouldn't miss your flight, kid. First one!' he chucked and punched Gaara's arm as gently as possible, nearly knocking him over into the snow. 'Looking forward to see the take off.' he let out a bellowing laugh, walking to the track with him, Gaara moving faster to keep up with his long strides.

'I don't think I can do this!' Gaara cried out to him, embarrassment flooding his cheeks. "The going down the chimney, the eating cookies and milk, carrying the presents!' he stopped walking and stared at his feet. Shukaku had also stopped moving, turning around to stare at his pupil.

'Boy,' he sighed, for he never called Gaara by his name, 'You're gonna be just fine, but, here,' there was a pop and the cork from the large gourd flew up into the air only to land on a small platform of sand. The sand began to pull something out from the gourd. When it finally succeeded, Gaara realized it was a velvet bag with drawstrings to close it. 'This,' Shukaku explained, handing it to him, 'is what you'll put the cookies into. This way you don't have to eat so much like your tub of a father.' confused, Gaara slid his hand into the bag: there was no bottom and Gaara was able to shove his entire arm, from hand to shoulder, into the bag. Seeing the blown away look from Gaara, the Sandman laughed before handing him another bag, via sand. It was large and tanned colored. 'This is where you put the presents. As soon as you stop at a house, the presents for that specific family will appear from the back of your sled into this bag. Only, they will all be shrunken in size. But, as soon as you pull it from the bag, they will grow. Get it?' Gaara nodded, stunned but accepting the bag nonetheless. 'Got it?' Gaara nodded once more. 'Good.' Shukaku corresponded with a smirk. 'Now go get 'em tiger!' he slapped the back of Gaara a he took off running towards the sleigh, where everyone was waiting for him.

He made it there in a sprint and stopped beside his ride, looking around at everyone. Pain was just finishing harnessing the reindeer team, the other department heads were lined up on the right with Temari and Kankurou, Shukaku appearing there in a cloud of sand. On the other side was the elves, glaring at him with gazes thick of disapproval. Ignoring them, Gaara turned back to his friends and family, climbing onto the seat of the sleigh. 'Are you ready?' Pain asked, tossing him the reins.

The red head nodded, 'Yes.' before setting the reins into his hands like he had done it a dozen times before. He hadn't; he just watched his father.

Deidara laughed a high pitch cackle, 'Now sing the song!'

Gaara froze but managed to give him a look, 'What song?'

'Now, Dasher!' he began in a high, mocking voice, amusement twinkling in his eyes and his smile so wide it gave him dimples.

'I'm not singing the song.' Gaara deadpanned before snapping the reins. The team didn't move. With a sigh he asked them, 'What's wrong?' Comet turned his large head and gave a great snort, jerking his head forward.

Temari smiled, 'They won't go without the song Gaara.' her voice was teasing, obviously enjoying the torture her brother was going through. He shook his head and she gave a soft laugh, 'Well, you'll be sitting here for a while and time will be wasted.'

With a deep sigh, Gaara grumbled, 'Now Dasher-,'

'Louder!'

'Now Dasher-,'

'Louder!'

'Now Dash-,'

'Louder!'

'Shut the hell up!' everyone jumped at Gaara's bellow. Seeing the looks on everyone's faces, Gaara cleared his throat and began again, 'NOW!' he gave everyone a warning look a few sucked their lips in to show they weren't going to say anything. Gaara began once again, 'Now Dasher! Now, Dancer! Now, Prancer, and Vixen! On Comet!' Comet gave a pleased snort and readied himself, determination glittering in his large dark eyes, 'On, Cupid! On, Donder and Blitzen!' there was a loud smash and the snow crunching sounded like breaking bones, before the reindeer began running, wind whipping Gaara in the face. His heart had never beat so fast. The cold nipped the tips of his ears and his nose but he had never felt so warm before. With a great push, the reindeer led the sled off into the air and Gaara realized he was flying. When he was a kid he would hop onto the back of Comet and the one man reindeer would fly him around his father's village. He had never been so high before.

The elevation began to grow until they broke through the veil of their world to the mortal one. Gaara was unable to contain himself, the sensation sliding over him was to much to bare and he let out a scream. A victorious whoop and Comet howled with him. The other reindeer sounded like they were laughing. 'To the first house, guys!' suddenly, they all stopped, 'What's wrong?'

'Ehem!' same a soft, feminine cough and Gaara looked at who it was.

'Oh, sorry Cupid.' she gave a soft snort and turned her nose in the air. 'Can we try this again, gang?' she nodded her head before moving, the other reindeer shocked. When they realized they should be helping her, they began to move also, instead of just Cupid pulling. Then, Gaara sited the first sign of humans.

He and the team quieted. There were dozens of houses with intersecting roads that led to each one. On most of the houses were lights, bright colorful lights that Gaara saw in the village at home. None of the buildings were as colorful but they did resemble them. All the houses were severely locked up and Gaara wondered if they were having a problem with crime. There was never any trouble in the village so everyone just left their homes unlocked. That must be why his father had to slid through the chimneys, Gaara figured as the reindeer team began to lower him on the first house of the night.

The team landed without a sound on the first roof and Gaara found himself freezing. The first house, he could do it. Before leaving, Gaara had tied the bag for the cookies on his father's belt and beside him on the seat was the other bag for the presents. Looking at it, he could see the shapes of the presents inside. Gaara jumped out of the sleigh and tried walking with small, steady steps, his arms out to balance himself. He would have liked to take a roof walking course before he left.

Unsurprisingly, the roof was slippery and his boots slid against the shingles. Gulping, Gaara reached over the side of the sleigh and pulled out the bag before he made his steady way to the chimney. Prancer snorted and shook his head at how slow he was going and tried to nudge him to go faster but ended up almost sending him off the roof into a large spruce tree. Comet moved like lightening and caught the back of his coat with his strong teeth and managed to pull him back onto the roof. Snorting angrily, Comet must have huffed a few insults to Prancer and Gaara gave him a smile. 'Thanks.' Comet turned and nodded at him, his face gentle and patient. He turned to glower at Prancer again who sat down stubbornly. Crawling to his feet, Gaara tried again and Prancer looked away from him as he wobbled by to the chimney.

Gaara threw the bag over his shoulder and hauled himself to sit on the edge of the chimney, his feet dangling inside. 'Here I go.' he whispered as he plunged in.

He landed with a thumb on his feet on the bottom. Coughing softly, he pushed his way out of the tiny square out into the mortal living room. The first thing he noticed was the pictures sitting over the hearth. The red head found himself staring at them. Mortals looked just like the elves, just like Gaara! Only, instead of long, pointed ears and pointed faces, they had more rounded faces and weren't as pale. Moving from the pictures over to the tree, Gaara began pulling the tiny presents from the bag. As soon as they came out, they grew, nearly knocking Gaara over with surprise, for he had forgotten.

'And now the stockings.' he muttered to himself, taking the smaller items and stuffing them into the large socks hanging over the fireplace. 'Is that-,' he stopped himself and turned to the table where a plate of cookies and a glass of milk was waiting for him, 'What the hell.' he went over and ate two of the chocolate chip cookies, chugged the milk and grabbed the carrots for the reindeer. He walked back over into the fireplace, ducking inside of it. 'How do I get up-,' he was cut off by a wind sucking him up, silencing him. He shot out of the chimney like a canon ball and slammed into the seat of the sleigh, face first. Comet gave him a look, asking if he were stupid while the other reindeer laughed and jeered at him. Cupid rolled her eyes. Grumbling, Gaara sat up and turned to them, saying, angrily, 'Fine! No carrots for you!' they were all silenced and gave him pleading stares. Giving in, Gaara tossed the orange sticks at them and they all caught one in their mouths, munching happily. 'Let's get going before I get bored.' still munching, they took back off into the air.

Gaara managed to deliver to a few more houses, these without incident other than the flying out of the chimney part. He still hadn't managed to control that. He found himself distracted by the pictures of the mortal though. He imagined them to be ugly creatures, by the way people in the village and the elves in the factory described them. They really weren't. Well, some of them Gaara found less appealing than others. Most of them were male. But, all the mortal females were very good looking, to Gaara. He was impressed and now he understood his father's fascination with the creatures. They were rather exciting; all of them looked and dressed differently. The red head had never seen anything like it. Everyone he knew wore uniforms that matched and people in the village usually only wore red, green, white and maybe some other colors, though it was rare.

'Next house,' he called, not wanting to insult Cupid again by calling them guys. He hopped into sleigh and they took off to the next house on the lane. They landed with a thump and the snow on the roof tumbled off over the side. Gaara ignored it. He jumped out of the sleigh with the bag, more elegantly, more snow being disturbed and falling off the side.

Walking with a more steady walk, Gaara leapt down the chimney and landed softly, a slight grunt escaping his lips. He couldn't believe his father could do this for so long without tiring out or giving up. Gaara was in the prime of his youth and much stronger and in better shape than his father and he was having a hard time.

He leaned over the table of cookies and took a sip of milk, letting it slid down his throat, relieved. Going down chimneys made one thirsty, that was for sure. He took a bite of a homemade cookie that reminded him of Zetsu's brilliant cookies and was about to stand up from a table when a voice stopped him, 'Santa?'

On Christmas night, Shukaku sprinkled strong sand over the entire human world to ensure none of them woke up when Gaara's father was working and so they wouldn't wake up to see Gaara either. But, somehow, he managed to miss one person. At first, the red head though it was a little girl but when he turned and looked up at her, he noticed that she looked to be the same age as he.

She was the most attractive, breathtaking mortal he had seen yet, with large pure white eyes, like snow and long, plum hair. Her skin was pale like an elf. Maybe she was, for that would explain why she was immune to the sand of the Sandman. Her ears, though, Gaara took notice, were rounded like other humans. So, she wasn't a elf. Human, she was, apparently.

Cautiously, the red head watched as she crept down the steps and approached him, 'Santa?' she repeated again, her voice soft like a mouse. 'You don't have a beard.' she frowned, scrutinizing his face.

He blushed and shuffled his feet, 'No. Mortal myths depict my fa-' he paused for a split second before saying, 'depict me with a beard.' he corrected, the male part of him wanting desperately to impress her.

She gazed at him, stunned, 'You're really Santa?'

'Y-Yea.' he stuttered out, leaning away from her as she got closer. He could feel the heat from his skin. She was warm, something elves weren't. Only a human trait it seemed.

'You're real.' for a moment, it looked as if she was going to faint and her eyelashes fluttered. He prepared himself to catch her but she managed to pull herself together. 'Oh, wow.' her voice was husky with disbelieve and he felt his cheeks heat even more. Gosh, she was pretty.

'_Humans aren't capable to remember us, Gaara.' Shukaku whispered to his pupil, holding out a bag of sleeping sand. A young Gaara took it and giggled it in his hands, feeling the sand slosh around inside of the worn leather bag. 'You need to do something to make them remember. Take a first from them.'_

'_A first?' young Gaara whispered, not looking up at his master._

_Shukaku nodded, thoughtfully, 'Like a...' his brows furrowed, 'Well, I don't know what a first would be, but I know it says something like that in the council handbook,' he shrugged, 'I suppose that is something you'll have to figure out on your own,' he took a drink from his small gourd and Gaara listened to him gulp the liquid down. 'I've gotta go, you little snot.' he ruffled the short red hair, despite the protests of the child, 'keep your nose clean, kid.' and in a whirl of sand, the tanuki demon had left and boy finally looked with up his pale, pupil gaze._

_His voice echoed, 'A first?' _

Gaara, staring at the young human, thought about what his mentor had told him, 'A first?' she looked startled and was about to question him but was unable to utter a sound as he lunged forwards to her and smashed his lips against hers. A first. A first kiss. The mortal's lips were warm and soft and fit against his well. He liked it. He wanted to do this every day. It gave him a breathtaking tumbling feeling in his tummy and his blood was pounding through him; so loud he couldn't hear himself breath. But, he could now zone everything out but her. The way her eyes closed gingerly, her long eyelashes caressing his cheekbones, her tiny hands gripping onto his biceps, her nails sinking into the fabric enough he would feel it on his flesh, her body relaxing and almost melting into his arms and how hot she felt. Even through his gloved he could feel her. Her presence engulfed him but when he pulled away from her, it was gone.

The elf was tempted to do it again but found himself interested in seeing her reaction. Her pale face had turned the same color as his hair and her eyes were wider than they had been before. Her mouth quivered, drawing his attention back to her candy apple red lips. 'What was that for?' she asked, her voice a whisper.

'I need you to remember me.' his eyes became pleading, 'Please remember me!' he begged, holding onto her shoulder and stroking her soft flesh with his thumbs.

Hinata wasn't used to cute boys looking at her, let alone kissing her and begging her to remember them. Of course, she also wasn't used to meeting young Santa Clauses and boys with pointed ears. He reminded her of a Lord of the Rings character. Only, real. She could touch him and he could touch her. They could talk to each other. He had taken her first kiss. 'I will remember you.' she whispered as she felt his fingers skim across her eyes.

He whispered something to her, it sounded like gold webbing, sweet like honey yet smooth like honey. And then, she was asleep, in the arms of the red haired elf.

Gaara held onto his mortal princess for what felt like a long time as he gazed at her sleeping face. He prayed that after taking a small dosage of sleeping sand his master had given him, she would still remember. She had too. He had taken a first, hadn't he? A first kiss? It had been his first kiss. He wasn't sure about his mortal though. It felt like a first.

Like carrying the most precious of items, Gaara carried his mortal to her bedroom, up the stairs to her room, the one with the open door and lamplight on. He tucked her into the bed and plucked the cord on the lamp, the light dying out. Blindly, the red head exited the room and closed it behind him softly, not making a sound as he made his way back down to the living room.

With the utmost care, Gaara began to lay out all the presents and stuff the stocking, taking interest to the names; Hinata and Hanabi, he arranged the gifts. He knew that his angel was Hinata. He just had a feeling. He didn't know how, but he knew.

When he was done in Hinata's house, Gaara ducked into the chimney once more and shot up, slamming into the seat of the sleigh. The reindeer watched, amused every time their new master and stableboy did so. It just got better every time for them.

Shaking himself, Gaara sat upright, pushing the empty sack on the other side of the cushion. He crackled the reins and took back off into the air. 'Just over a billion more houses to go, everyone!' some of the reindeer stopped and Cupid seemed to be smirking. She was loving every minute of their flight.

_Glories stream from Heaven afar_

_Heavenly hosts sing halleluia _

Pulling out his pocket watch that was tucked inside of his coat, Gaara checked the time. It was five thirty in the morning. His eyes narrowed. Shukaku's sand lasted until seven so he still had some time. Like his father, he began in Japan -where he had met his lovely mortal, Hinata- and was now ending in Canada. All he had was British Columbia and then he would be done. The reindeer were getting worn out and all Gaara wanted to do was go home and collapse in his bed.

They were flying to their destination still and Gaara curled up on the seat, closing his head and breathing deeply on his gloved hands. He might have been used to spending time outside in winter for it was how he had lived his whole life but he had never spent so much time high in the sky with strong, chilling winds. He desperately wanted some hot cocoa with marshmallows, not cold milk and cookies. Comet made a squealing sound along with the other reindeer and Gaara shot up at they swerved around a tree and crashed into a backyard of a house. Snow went flying giving it the appearance that it was once again snowing. Thank heaven it wasn't.

Gaara had grabbed the front of the sleigh as they jerked downwards so he wouldn't fly out. The reindeer were groaning and whining, struggling to their feet. Clumsily, Gaara leapt out of the sleigh and made his way over to them, holding one reindeer around their neck to support them as they stood on their thin legs on the deep, fluffy snow.

Prancer huffed and refused his help, hitting him with a broad head and knocking him into the snow. The freezing white flakes slid against his neck, instantly becoming ice water and trickled down his back and chest. He gasped and leapt up, snow soaking into his clothing. Whimpering, Gaara stood up, his entire body trembling and quivering with the cold. Comet made a growling noise and nipped the hump of Prancer, who was stationed in front of him. Prancer cried and whipped around to him, baring his teeth and pushing his rack in front of him in case Comet decided to charge him. He didn't but Cupid, who was beside Comet, snarled and swung her head towards him, displaying her own rack of antlers. Prancer bared his teeth but backed down.

Gaara, his teeth beginning to chatter, managed to get out, 'Thanks,' to Comet and Cupid, who peered at him with large, dark brown eyes. Shame smothering his voice, he added, 'Sorry about. I should have been paying better attention. That was stupid. I was stupid.' still shivering, he crawled into the sleigh again and snapped the reins. The reindeer started forward but the sleigh was jammed into the snow and didn't move. Hissing, Gaara tried it again but the reindeer couldn't move it.

Jumping back out, the red head went to the back wall of the house and picked up a shovel outside the shed before going back over to his ride, beginning to shovel around the large red sleigh. It took him a little less than ten minutes throwing snow over his shoulder to get to a point where the reindeer could actually move the sleigh. When they made it to this point, Gaara put the shovel back where he found it before settling back onto the seat, gripping the reins. 'This is much harder than it looks.' he muttered, glancing up to where his home was. 'Come on. We need to finish this.' it had been a game to him before, just so he could go home and say that he had flown the sleigh and was done. But, now he had to get the rest of the houses. He wanted to finish desperately. Gaara was going to finish.

_Love's pure light_

_Radiant beams from thy holy face_

_With the dawn of redeeming grace_


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay, now this is impressive. The third chapter. Also, I would like everyone to know that Cupid is the only girl reindeer, as you probably figured out in the last chapter. But, male reindeer loose their antlers in November so, in reality, all of the reindeer should be female to possess antlers in December. But, because they live in NeverNever, the world of faery, they're magical so they're not only immortal but also incapable of loosing their antlers. That's my excuse and I'm not changing it. **

**On Dasher on Prancer! **

Chapter Three: The Holly and Ivy

_The holly and the ivy, when they are both full grown,_

_Of all the trees that are in the wood, the holly bears the crown._

From where they were flying the sky, Gaara could see the track had been shoveled and polished once again by bored elves and his stomach churned. That wasn't good. After crash landing in the back yard, one of the runners had come loose and was trembling under the sleigh. He could feel it as they flew and he knew as they landed it wouldn't be pretty. He gripped the sled as hard he could, his hands burning from the effort. The reindeer were trying their best to lower it gently but it wasn't working. As soon as they skimmed the surface of the runway, the sleigh bounced up before crashing back down. There was a loud crack of splintering wood and out of the corner of his eye, Gaara could see the runner fly off into the distance, disappearing into the snow. There was another loud crack as the side of the sleigh without the runner met the ground. The front of the sleigh tipped forwards, the back end sticking up and looming over the reindeer team in front. They hit a bump and the sleigh smashed all its weight down on the back and Gaara couldn't utter a sound as he went soaring off of the sled and smashing into the runway. He hit it once, did a flip over his side and bashed his head into the runway, causing his vision to turn black for a terrifying moment. It cleared up slightly so he could see blurry colors but it wasn't much use as he twirled into the air again, his shoulder cracking on the ground first before his the side of his skull. He rolled once more, landing on his back and his head striking the runway once last time.

Gaara blinked and tried hard to concentrate on his surroundings but found nothing but blurriness. He heard his sister screaming at him, his name coming out a ear piercing shriek that made his head throb even more. She must have pulled off her gloves for her hands were warm as they rubbed on his face, which was numb with bitter cold. He tried to focus his gaze on Temari but found it hard with all the other screaming and sounds of movement. His sisters voice was becoming clearer and less distance, closer. She pushed her lap beneath his head so she could hold him closer and he nearly wrenched himself off, the sudden urge to retch overcoming him for a horrible, sickening moment. Steadily and slowly, Temari began to push him up and his body felt limp, dropping to the side. His sister caught him under the armpits and held him up right. The world around him twirled and a sound escaped his lips. Temari hummed-hysteria still evident in her voice-to try and sooth him but it didn't work.

'Gaara? Are you alright? What happened?' Kankurou was kneeling in front of him and his face swirled and distorted until finally clearing to the point Gaara could make out his features. The red head opened his mouth to speak but gagged once again. Kankurou leapt out of the way just in case. 'What happened?' his brother repeated again, more aggressive and the youngest saw a bright lights moving in from the corner of his vision.

'Uh...' He couldn't speak and his stomach churned. Gaara lurched to the side and the contents of his stomach spilt out of his mouth. His head pounded and a crimson liquid fell down his cheek like a tear, sliding over the rim of his nose. It was warm and the boy first thought he was crying. He wasn't for he noticed the lack of stinging in his eyes and brought up a shaky hand to touch the warm, damp spots. When his hand pulled away he spotted the blood, glistening over his pale skin and a terrified noise gurgled from his throat. His sister continued to rub his back, her other hand holding him close to her.

Elves were gathering around, waiting for the arrival of the replacement Santa and his team. This had not been what they were expecting. People continued to ask him what happened but Gaara found he couldn't remember. Every part of him throbbed with agonizing pain and his head was about to explode. He closed his eyes are his throat burned with bile. He spat it out but ended up coughing, mucus sliding up his throat into his mouth and mixing with his saliva. He spat that out also. 'What...?' he managed to get out, pushing himself up from the runway ground. 'What time...' no one answered, not quite understanding what he was asking, 'The time.' he asked again, slowly, praying that he didn't retch again. His stomach tossed and seethed.

'It's six fifty four.' it was Sasori who answered, for he was anal about the time. He hated waiting and making people wait. It didn't surprise Gaara that he possessed a watch of his own. Most of the other department heads didn't, for it wasn't important enough for them. It was before seven, before everyone woke up. Relief flooded his every pore. Perfect. He had made it. Of course, he hadn't been as fast as his father had been, who could make it back a half an hour earlier but it was good enough for him. He made it back before seven and that was all that mattered.

Sasori seemed to know what he why he was wondering for he grinned widely, something that was very rare, before kneeling in front of him, his face gentle, 'Good job.' his hand sat on his fluffy red hair and Gaara tried nodding to the best of his ability.

'I have to admit kid, I think that landing was much better than the take off but then a again I was always one for blood.' Shukaku spoke as he walked up to Gaara, eying the blood that was dripping from his head. Gaara didn't quite process what he said but nodded, feeling uneasy by the way the Sandman was looking at him. For as long as Gaara could remember, the tanuki had always been rather blood thirsty. He pushed his head again Temari, who was smoothing back his unruly hair though was mostly unsuccessful.

'We need to get him inside.' Temari ordered, looking around at the elves seeing who was willing to help. A whole bunch of them took off running back to the factory while others tried to back away indiscreetly. Her anger fumed but before she could blow, Sasori wrapped his arms around Gaara's body, who was much tinier than him, for the younger red head had been born prematurely and settled him in his arms bridal style.

'I'll take him back to his room.' Sasori told Temari, walking as quickly as he could without jarring the boy's body to much. He didn't fancy the idea of the young boy puking all over him.

Gaara had a hard time keeping his head from flopping side to side and he tried to focus on Sasori's face, which was still rather distorted. Getting lifted up hadn't helped much and his stomach gurgled, discontent with the whole situation but had nothing else to regurgitate, for he had already emptied all the contents that had been in him previously.

It wasn't hard for Sasori to find Gaara's room for they lived in the same wing. While Gaara's father, Temari and Kankurou shared their own wing in the mansion, Gaara shared one with the department heads, one of the reasons why he knew them so well.

With great skill, Sasori maneuvered the door open without banging or smacking Gaara on the frame. Tossing him on the bed, the force jared his head, startling him back to his senses. His head nearly split in half from the pain and Sasori, who had left to rummage through the cabinet in his bathroom, hurried back with a small potion. 'Drink this.' he ordered the young boy. Gaara snatched it from him, desperate for some relief and drank its contents greedily. He was promptly knocked out a second later.

_The holly bears a blossom as white as lily flower,_

Last Night. He had delivered the presents last night. He had nearly missed Christmas day -Heaven forbid- because of the stupid concussion he had suffered after his fall from the sleigh onto the runway. Gaara wondered if he had achieved an all time first.

The boy pulled out his pocket watch and checked the time. It was the afternoon of the twenty fifth. He rubbed at his forehead which still throbbed from earlier events. Musingly, he thought about the human girl; Hinata. Did she like her presents? He hoped she did. Would she remember him? He had taken a first. And even if he hadn't taken a first, he had given one. The should count for something.

Unlike his father, Gaara didn't have access to the Divination Room, where a large table that could locate every human in the world sat. In the center of the large table was a screen, very much like an overgrown tablet and just by touching it, you could zoom in and out on different places and see all the occupants of the house, for as soon as you fell on a home, the files of each one of them showed up. Gaara wasn't allowed into the room, but he sure knew of a way to go see the mortal girl.

That plan was what made him bundle himself up and trudge through the knee deep snow and enter the barn the reindeer lived in. 'Comet!' he called, keeping his voice soft, as if afraid that someone from the factory would hear him, 'Come here boy.' he whispered, clicking his tongue. The sound seemed loud in his ears.

Comet picked his large head up from the bed of hay he was sprawled on. He quirked a large, fuzzy eyebrow before pushing himself to his feet, his knobby knees shaking with the effort. When he approached the red head, Gaara took out a cloth and whipped the sleep from the animal's eyes with a smile, 'We're gonna be going somewhere to check on someone, okay Comet?' Comet gave a throaty grunt, wonder in his dark eyes, 'It's just a girl...'

Cupid raised her head and gave a snort before jumping to her own feet and prancing over to the water trough, loosing the tip of her snout into it. Gaara rolled his eyes before turning his attention back to Comet.

'Come on, you're with me, right?' the reindeer nodded his tremendous head and let Gaara throw a saddle blanket and a specialized saddle onto his back, fastening the girth around his belly with expert hands. The other reindeer watched, Blitzen's eyes not pleased. Gaara wasn't worried though. No one really came into the stables and if they did, they couldn't understand the reindeer like Gaara could.

The boy threw his leg over the body of Comet and hoisted himself up, gripping onto the leather reins. Dancer shuffled on the spot, looking uncomfortable, his eyes flitting from side to side. 'Oh,' Gaara announced, getting their attention, 'If any of you guys tell on me, even you Cupid,' her head shot up, 'I'm putting you in the Cone of Shame.' they all looked aghast, taking steps away from him in horror. Of course, Gaara wasn't worried. He just wanted to make sure none of them tried.

'Let's go then Comet.' with the shake of his head, Comet trotted to the door, Gaara closing it behind them. As soon as the door was closed and Gaara was settled, Comet took off running, snow flying around them in a torrent. Then, with a great push, they were off.

_The holly bears a berry as red as any blood,_

Christmas was great, it really was. Despite it being winter, the house was warmer than ever. The air was hung with crisp pine and lingering hot cocoa and the gentle crackling of the fire and the crunching of the wrapping paper filled the background.

Hinata and Hanabi's father, Hiashi, had flown back from America and had arrived home at around eight in the morning. Hanabi had gotten up an hour later, peeked down stairs, shrieked, before rushing into Hinata's room and leaping onto the bed, pile-driving her awake, still squealing. The oldest Hyuuga child had never had such a good night's rest before, and was rather dispirited when her baby sibling forced her back into reality.

She didn't tell her father or her sister about her dream of the enchanting Santa Claus, who was her age and without a beard hanging from his face.

Grabbing the bundles of wrapping paper, Hinata shoved them into the garbage bag, 'Is that it, Hanabi?' she asked, peering around herself, spotting some little balls of tape to add to her cache of wrappings.

Her sister also took a quick, noncommittal look around, 'Yup.' before going back to her presents, pulling open the boxes to get to the actual gifts inside.

Tying a knot into the garbage bag, Hinata slung it over her shoulder and headed for the back door where the garbage bin was. Shoving on an old pair of her father's boots, she exited the house. It was snowing ever so faintly but the air itself wasn't cold just barely cool, caressing her skin with a light breeze.

Opening the top, Hinata shoved the fat bag deep into the can, closing the lid after with a satisfactory slap. She was about to turn on her heel back into the cozy warmth of her house when she heard it.

When she heard him: 'Hey.'

_The holly bears a prickle as sharp as any thorn,_

Gosh, he was impressed with himself. Gaara had managed to maneuver Comet, his faithful reindeer companion, all the way back to Hinata's house in less than half an hour and he managed to land with out causing a disturbance or hurting anyone. The crow from earlier didn't count either.

He and Comet had landed down in nearly the center of his mortal girl's yard, but to avoid detection, the red head led the reindeer over underneath the spruce tree. Comet was content with falling down into the snow, burying his snout into the coldness and closing his eyes. He was also content with letting his caretaker handle petty things, such as girls. Comet himself, found no interest in the fickleness of the two leg creatures.

Gaara leaned against the trunk of the tree, crossing his arms over his chest to guard himself from the chill. He had been through much harsher weather, but he wasn't sure how long he would be standing there. He could see her though, moving around her house. She was slightly blurry through the foggy window but he could make out her shapes and colors. Her hair was dark and long, flowing with every movement and her skin pale and porcelain resembling. She was dressed in large pants, blue in color with a plaid pattern and a simple black t-shirt, an undecipherable image on the front over her chest.

Then, to his surprise and delight, she was moving to the door. He could almost make out the details of her face. Generous red lips, large opal eyes and flushed features was what he could make out. The door opened and she stepped out, pushing a black bag into the garbage can. At first, he couldn't believe his luck. He was barely there two minutes and she just came out. She didn't seem to notice him, much to the boy's disappointment. Making his presence known, he announced, 'Hey.' she spun to look at him with wide eyes, before whirling to look back inside her house.

Realizing that no one else in the house had noticed his unexpected appearance, she turned back to him, 'Santa? What are you doing here?' the question was so innocent and full of childish wonder Gaara had to swallow done his laughter but couldn't hid the smile playing on his lips. Being called Santa, the name that was usually given to his father, a title of great respect, sent a naughty thrill through him. He had two options: he could play along and say he was Santa and get the respect he deserved but would later have to suffer the consequences when she found out or, he could tell her the truth.

Gaara didn't know much about mortals, other than the lessons his mentor Shukaku had taught him -and Gaara had a feeling that his sensei didn't know much either- but he didn't want to risk loosing her because of his lust for acknowledgement.

'Actually,' he moved closer to her, making his decision, 'I'm not Santa Claus.' the girl's entire body tensed, ready to make a run for it.

'If...' her bottom lip quivered, 'If you're not Santa, what were you doing in my house last night?'

The red head struggled for words, hoping to the Gods he wouldn't scare her away, 'Well, Santa Claus is my father...'

Her hands came up to slap her face, covering it from his view, 'Oh God, I feel like I've just fallen into a corny Christmas movie...' she shook her head and Gaara moved closer, afraid she was going to end up ripping her face off by how hard she was gripping it. 'You're the son of Santa Claus?' she spread her fingers apart to peer at him.

His throat went sauna dry but he managed to get his voice working, 'I know how odd this must sound but it's the truth!' he waved his hands in front of himself, 'You're the first mortal I've ever met and I really don't want to screw this up so I'm just gonna give you the truth! I've lived my entire life up in the North Pole, my father is Saint Nick and we have a whole bunch of elves living in the factory where all the toys are made!' she blinked stunned, 'and my father has his own village, with a population of a hundred and four, and I take care of all the reindeer! See, this guy behind me is Comet, he may not look like much-,' Comet lifted up his head and gave a snort, giving a glowering gaze to his caretaker, '-but he's brilliant!' Comet seemed pleased and snuggled back down into the snow, keeping an eye open to watch the two legs. 'And, he can _fly_!'

Hinata stared at the boy with large, incredulous eyes. During his rant, he had walked over to her and nearly picked her up, wrapping his strong and calloused hands around her upper arms, excitement building in his tone causing his entire body to shake. The sensible part of her whispered that he was crazy, very crazy, psychotic crazy, while the other part of her, the less sensible side, murmured that he was telling the truth. He had, after all, delivered presents to her house and now he was in her backyard with a reindeer, not something every teenage boy had. Not to mention his ears. His ears were carved like elegant pieces of wood, pointed and sharp, poking out of his unruly vermillion hair.

While her 'Shoulder Angel and Devil' fought, Hinata reached up and touched on of his ears. It was cold and smooth, as expected. Her gaze flicked to meet his eyes; one of his hairless brows were raised but he let her continue. 'Do you believe me, Hinata Hyuuga?' she jumped and her mouth fell open.

'Well...' her eyes fell to her feet but he tipped her chin with the edge of his index finger, making her look back up into his gaze, 'your ears...' how was she suppose to describe them? Pointy? Cold? Lord of the Rings like? Perhaps she should point out the resemblance he possessed towards Legolas Greenleaf? 'Have they always...'

'Have they always been elven?' he finished for her, amusement twinkling in his aquamarine depths. 'Yes, they have.'

'So, you're an elf?' she could here her sister running up the stairs to her room before rushing back down, collapsing on the plush carpet and talking a mile a minute to their father. When the boy nodded, she pointed out, 'But, isn't Santa just immortal and everyone else an elf?' in all the movies and stories she had seen and heard, she was use to Santa being very human looking, while all his little helpers were tiny elf people. Gaara was not a tiny elf person. 'Shouldn't you be human?'

'If my father was human, do you think he would still be alive if he was born during the eighteenth century?'

She shrugged, tossing her hair over her shoulder, 'I don't know. He does it the same way he makes it around the world in twenty four hours?'

Gaara gave a scoff, 'I made it around the world in twenty four hours with a broken rudder on the sleigh,' he puffed out his chest, 'and it was my first run. It's not that hard, especially for my father, whose been doing it for over three hundred years.' okay, she couldn't argue with that. Comet, behind them, snorted. He had noticed how his master conveniently left out the fact he did a couple of barrel rolls on the runway, puked, had been carried like a princess by a good-looking elven department manager and suffered form a minor concussion at the end of it all.

'Why were you delivering the presents?' her back was pushed against the door, the frozen glass sinking through her shirt to chill her skin. His hands were resting on either side of her head, boxing her in between himself and the door.

The redhead looked reluctant to answer, his eyes flitting to her family within the house. They quickly moved back to the opal gaze of the mortal girl, 'Father has taken ill.' the statement was hollow sounding, distant by the way he worded it. Hinata was observant enough she could hear the inhospitable lace that was woven through the statement. She longed to ask him, but it wasn't her place. She had known him how long and she was going to ask him about the relationship he had with his father? That would be rather brazen. Fortunately enough, Hinata possessed a timid enough nature that she didn't start blurting out inappropriate inquires.

'Will...' her brow furrowed, 'Will he be alright?'

He bared his teeth; they were all sharp looking, feral. 'He's fine, the old coot.' a hiss made its way up from his throat and his hot breathe fanned across her flustered face. She blinked, taken aback by his hostility. Yes, it seemed there was some harsh feelings passing through son to father. She wondered if his darling dad knew the way he felt about him.

Gaara must have realized that he had shocked her and, he being such a great detective, noted the spark of fear of his outburst, hidden in the milky depths. With great willpower, he forced his body to relax and an awkward smile quirked onto his lips. She returned it.

'What are you doing today?' he asked her, glancing over his shoulder to look at Comet, just in time to see the reindeer rolling his orb like eyes.

'Spending time with my family, I suppose.' Well, it was mostly her keeping Hanabi from breaking everything in the house. Her father was going to go back into his room and sleep off his jet-leg, while Hanabi would play a bit in the living room, get bored, grab all her stuff before rushing back up to her room and slamming the door. Just on Que., Hinata heard her father speaking in a deep, sleep deprived voice to his youngest before moseying up the stairs to his bedroom, the door, like Hanabi always did, slammed and echoed through the entire house. Hanabi made a cooing sound of disappointment and her sister could hear her gathering her toys, stumbling after her father.

Gaara cocked a hairless eyebrow, 'Spending time with your family?' he repeated, his voice harmonious and soft. Deep inside though, he understood how it felt being shunned by blood. It hurt. But, he won't allow her to spend Christmas by herself. He knew the feeling too well. It was either be alone, be with people who hate you, or suffer through horrible Christmas parties with hundreds upon hundreds of elves with over twenty bowls of eggnog, mixed in with pure alcohol that was created in the chemistry department. Not like that had ever happened to Gaara... He mentally winced at the thought.

'Well, my family is very introverted,' she lied and the red head snorted at her, shaking his handsome face, negatively. 'Why, what are you doing?' her fist rested on the curve of her hip.

He smiled, 'Spending the day with you.'

'What!'

_The holly bears a bark as bitter as any gall,_

**I would like to thank everyone who read, reviewed, alerted me, my story or favorite-ed either one of us. It's all very appreciated and keeps me motivated! Constructive criticism is appreciated. Your thoughts are welcome. Also, if you have any suggestions for a better title than 'All I Want', go ahead and suggest! And, because I love my reviews so much, send in Christmas songs! I may use one! I'm very openminded so go ahead and suggest; title or song! Or just review! *hint hint***

**IMPORTANT NOTICE **

**I won't have this done before I leave to Mexico since I'm leaving tonight -where I can't work on it- so I won't be doing any writing/updating for a week... Sorry. Hopefully this story will be completed while we're all still in Christmas Spirit! **


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